In the quarter-finals against current World No. 1 Victor Axelsen, Kidambi Srikanth found himself in familiar territory. He had lost the first game – and if history was any indication, the Dane had consistently closed the doors on Srikanth at the majors.
But not this time! This time the door was about to be blown wide open. Srikanth recovered beautifully to win the second game and the match 14-21, 22-20, 21-7. Srikanth stepped up the pressure in a closely contested second game, which helped serve his purpose in the third – that he won convincingly. A sweet revenge made even sweeter, Srikanth won it on Axelsen’s home turf and in front of his home crowd. This proved to be Srikanth’s self-confessed turning point in the tournament.
© AFP
High on confidence, Srikanth overturned his next two opponents quickly, beating Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-18, 21-17 in the semis and then Korea’s Lee Hyun Il 21-10, 21-5 in the finals. However, 37-year-old Lee Hyun Il had a brilliant run in the tournament and proved his mettle as a giant-killer. After ousting former World No. 1 China’s Chen Long in the first round, he ejected current World No. 2 and compatriot Son Wan Ho in the semifinals.
Understandably worn out from the semis, Srikanth made short work of the Korean veteran to lift his third Super Series title of the year and fifth overall.
It’s been 38 years since an Indian won the Denmark Open. Prakash Padukone achieved the feat back in 1979.
– Varun Kumar | SpreadSports
